Point of View

This novel is narrated from multiple points of view, using first- and third-person narration. One of the stories is presented as an excerpt from a character’s papers, but the others do not make the pretense of having been documents: they are products of the narrator herself. Even in the first-person narratives, the text itself is not presented as a genuine product, just an account that happens to be on paper, now.

The author does not, however, present her own feelings or perspective on things, only through her characters’ words, and her description of events and places. It is clear from the long passages that describe the landscape that the author herself has a deep affection for the Dutch landscape, and the plants and people who live there.

The people who narrate the stories in the novel share certain characteristics: they are often female, and...